Confession of a born again optimist

Many years ago, while still a teenager, I lost faith in Nigeria. I recall writing a long letter to an uncle who was then studying at the University of Southern California, USA. I told him that I was finding it difficult to determine which way Nigeria was heading. That from what I could see, things were not going in the right direction. I advised him to weigh carefully the option of not returning into a brewing storm of uncertainty that was gradually taking over the country. I also informed him of my plans to get out and never come back home. I figured out that if he remained there, it would

facilitate my exit out of the country.

When my uncle responded, I discovered that he did not share my thinking on the fate of Nigeria. For him, Nigeria was the place to be. I could understand his enthusiasm even though it was unthinkable to share it with him. He left the country on a Federal Government scholarship to study petroleum engineering at a prestigious American university. From the pictures he sent to me once in a while, I could see that he was having a good time in school. Besides, he was pretty sure that on return, he would get a plum job either at the NNPC or any of the oil companies operating in Nigeria. To my little mind, my uncle failed to read correctly the early signs of Nigeria's economic distress and the already obvious sign of the failure of leadership. 

 To cut a long story short he came back home. NYSC was great. However,as soon as he was discharged from service the scale fell from his eyes and he began to see what I had been telling him all along. He never got a job with NNPC or any other oil company. It took quite an effort for him to get a job in the inspectorate division of the Federal Ministry of Industries. Due to lack of job satisfaction and the unbearable office politics going on in the ministry, my uncle left the job even though he was unprepared to be on his own. Today, I do not make the mistake of bringing up the issue of Nigeria when am on the phone with my uncle especially when I am the one that initiated the call.

What is it that moved my uncle from the camp of the cheerful optimists to the dank camp of incurable pessimists? Alternatively, what is it that made me to lose faith in Nigeria while still only a teenager years back? Is it that we are hurrying the sunshine of democracy or expecting too much from office holders who are as imperfect as we are?

The answers lie in what has happened in the last quarter century. Did we move forward? If so, by how much? Did we remain where we are? If so, for how long? I had an interesting discussion on the issue with some fellow who called himself a born again Christian. Mr born again told me that God has always intervened to provide Nigerians with the kind of leaders that would move the country forward. But has the country moved forward? I could not understand what the heck the guy was talking about. 

Buhari threw Shagari out of power. The people were happy. Babangida threw out Buhari. The people were happy. The people threw out Babangida. The people were happy. Babangida installed Shonekan instead of Abiola who won an election to be president. The people asked "what is this contraption". Abacha threw out Shenekan. And the people said, "Now we are in real trouble. Abacha dropped off by himself. The people celebrated. Abdulsalami came through the gates of military subterfuge. The people asked, "Now what".  Then Obasanjo and his military old boys pulled a surprise on the country. The old man walked straight from prison and headed directly to Aso Rock not just to cool off but to preside over the affairs of the country for an unbelievable eight years after allegedly reneging on a secret agreement to do only four years. At the end of what was supposed to be the end of his tenor no one could say with certainty what the old man was up to. Not even Obasanjo’s fellow subterfuge experts in the PDP could read the man’s game plan. The common saying then was "na only Baba know where we dey go". Then came the uncanny speculation of the  death of Yar Adua, while still a presidential candidate of the ruling party. Instantly, the rumoured death was interpreted as part of a cynical plot by Obasanjo to take advantage of certain provisions of the 2006 electoral act. At last, the election was conducted and rated the worst in the history of elections in Nigeria. What is the people's verdict on Obasanjo's administration? A hung jury leaning towards a conviction?

However, mid way into Yar Adua’s Administration, the jury has sat and returned a guilty verdict. Take a sample of the articles that have been published in all news media in the last week. Take a sample of all opinions aired on both radio and television stations in the last one week and see if you can appeal the verdict on this administration on the basis of a mistrial. So I turned back to my born again friend for a response to my analysis. All he could say was, “it could have been worse” And I responded as Bisi the Tolling Bell of Thisday is now wont to saying, “no further comment.”

Robot  # 1 | 02.10.2009 07:58

...Read the full article.

Taiwo Olokun  # 2 | 02.10.2009 19:39

Please visit: GraceTruth7.org There, you will find the updated version of my article "Newsweek-Adeboye"